Taste like "home"

Hello!  It is likely that you won’t see all THAT many posts by me (Jenn).  I’m not real good with social media and certainly don’t have prose like Yahaira.  In fact, I obsess and obsess (and obsess) over just the perfect words to convey, what I’m thinking and feeling...typically resulting in more than what really needs to be said.  So it’s not often that I take the time to write out, and actually finish something worth reading….but today I was inspired.  (Actually I started writing this two days ago and have decided to go ahead and post the portion that was ready! J).  So, if you can forgive the inherent spelling and grammar errors and potential redundancy from Yahaira’s last post….please read on!

The Perfect Chili…and Friend

Most of you who know Yahaira are aware of how amazing she is…even if you don’t know her that well I imagine you’re getting a good idea just reading all her posts.  Anyhow, I am beyond grateful to have her in my life and be walking thru this new adventure together.  Today I was especially blessed by something so simple and yet so meaningful…the ingredients for Chili!

I love making Chili, it is an easy recipe I inherited from my mom…brown your meat and onions, add chili powder, cumin and some Pace picante sauce, throw in a few cans of diced tomatoes and beans, let it simmer in a can of beer…and Vuala!  Always a hit and one of my staple dishes that our family requests…and except for the new addition of lime and cilantro (which my sister recently taught me) they prefer it without embellishment or modification.  You see that is the kind of cooking I am best at…not too complicated…no new modifications…I know the way to make it and it comes out good!  LOL, but that’s not exactly the way things go in Peru.  Raw ingredients and condiments are a little different, at best.  Staple pantry items such as canned tomatoes, canned beans, or jarred salsa are either non-existent or exorbitantly priced.  And so we come to completing the ‘simple’ task of making chili.

Thank goodness for Yahaira or it never would have happened!  We encountered the Pace picante issue last week when I offered to make tacos.  I knew our availability of tortillas would be limited, but adequate.  I knew we would be using the local cheese instead of cheddar (still delicious, still melts well),  but I did not think about the salsa!  I am from Michigan and medium spice Pace Picante Sauce is a key ingredient in most of my family’s “southwest” recipes.  I didn’t expect to find Pace brand but I also did not expect that the only small jar available (found near those few tortillas)…would cost $7 US!  There was no way I’d ask my MIL to pay that on our first family grocery trip….but I honestly had every intention of sending my husband back out to see if he could find a more reasonable priced option elsewhere…Or just go ahead and buy what they had…just this once, just so that my first rendition of tacos in Peru didn’t turn out tasting like crap.   When the morning of taco day came and I realized there was no way I was going to have salsa I’ll admit that inside I wanted to just give up right there, make something else, something simpler, something that wouldn’t take all that effort and come out tasting all wrong.  But then there’s Yahaira, who believes anything can be made from scratch and quite enjoys the process of making it yourself anyway.  Before I could give up she found a recipe…we had all the necessary ingredients in the house (even a jar of jalapenos!…which we can’t get fresh here)…and she made a perfect rendition of Pace picante before it was time for me to start cooking tacos.   Together, our meal turned out beautifully and it was a lot of fun once I embraced the process J.

So back to today….Yahaira pre-made a triple batch of ‘Pace Picante’ (since we know it is good, she made extra to keep in the freezer for next time), pre-pressure cooked the beans, and even pre-diced and simmered tomatoes (just ‘like’ they came from a can…but fresher!).  LOL, I bet your thinking it sounds like Yahaira was the one cooking chili…well she was!  It was another collaborative effort and this is one of the many tremendous benefits of living in community.  She did all the prep work, the time consuming, tedious parts I have honestly have no patience or excitement for but thankfully she genuinely seems to take pleasure in.  And then I was able to assemble these ‘recognizable’ ingredients into something that was familiar and that I love (and thankfully the family loved too)!  I know this sounds ridiculous…but I literally got choked up when I had my first taste of the assembled, still simmering chili.  It was not from spice…I’m not sure if it was from joy or from the simple fact that it tasted exactly like what I wanted…what I expected…it tasted like ‘home’.  I literally grabbed Yahaira and gave her a huge hug the next time she walked into the kitchen…I just had to say thank you for making it taste like ‘home’.  I know this sounds silly but these are stepping stones.  I do enjoy cooking.  I know cooking here will be different.  It will have its own set of challenges and rewards.  It will redefine my sense of taste and enjoyment.  But for the moment it felt so good to create something that tasted so familiar and that everyone loved!  And I could (or would) never have done it without Yahaira!

To be continued…I realized this post was getting a little long (go figure) and taking me way too long to finish…so for now you have the taste of home.  I’ll try to finish writing more later on some other little blessings in my life that are helping make it feel like home.  Peru is our home now and I know God has so much in store for us as we make this transition.

-Jenn

A manual process

Jenn said this today and it made perfect sense. Things are more manual now. Laundry is more manual. Cooking is more manual. Life is more manual.

Tuesday February 12, 2013...Taco Tuesday! (Casey's that ones for you!)

Jenn makes some of the best taco's I've ever had. Even having lived in Texas it was difficult if not impossible to find one much better. So, we decided on having our very own Taco Tuesday. We have had some amazing Peruvian dishes while here but every once in a while you need a taste of your old home. So we set out to do just that. Enter: one very difficult task. A very manual process.

Equivelant to $6.40!

You wouldn't expect a simple dish like Dad Carrolls (Jenn's dad) tacos to be so difficult to make but they were more then she bargained for. Jenn's dad is a professional chef and an excellent one at that. But, all great chefs have their secret. The secret of these taco's? Alright, sorry Jenn and Dave...I'm leting the cat out of the bag...I'm not sure if I can say it...Pace Picante Salsa. Whew, there I said it. Jarred salsa. A fine delicacy in life. So proceeds the search for Pace salsa. Suprisingly enough it wasn't that difficult to find at the grocery store, unfortunately, it cost $16.80 Soles....That is $6.40 US...That is ridiculous. I am not paying that! There must be another way. With our heads hanging low in feeling slightly defeated we left the store. What do we do? Give up? Never make taco's here? No way. Find another recipe for tacos? Not a chance. There must be a way. Between Jenn's wonderful recipe and my love for making food from scratch we sumise a plan. Google. Of course! So I went on a search to find a homemade recipe of the salsa. Jackpot! I found this:
Perfect Pace Picante Sauce Recipe - Restaurant.Food.com - 225582.  Now remember from my last blog I mentioned canned products are expensive...a can of Hunts diced tomato's is $3.41 US....I may as well buy the jar junk. So my modification to this recipe is all fresh tomato's. Success! Jenn was elated! It turned out just perfect! If I can say so myself, we just made the secret ingrediant better!

After: Cooked down & just like Pace!

Before: Prepped veggies for the salsa & ready for cooking 

So, we continue. Taco meat meets fresh "Pace Salsa." Perfect. Corn tortilla baked in the oven. Homemade pico sauce (thanks Ruth) and incredible guacamole made from home grown avocados. Everything is coming together beautifully. Until I realize at the last minute we don't have refried bean. AH! We can't have taco's without refried beans. If only I had thought about this the night before I could have made Abe and Carmen's wonderful recipe of homemade refried beans! But I didn't and lunch is needing to be ready in 30 minutes. On to plan B. "John run to the store and find a can of refried beans if you can. I don't care what it cost...we need it" I say.  So John dashes to the store to save the day. 10 minutes later her returns with a bag. Taco hero, I think to myself. He hands me the bag and my hopes and dreams of perfect tacos are slashed in a moment. "That's all they had" John says. So starts my own personal version of "Chopped Challenge." 15 minutes to make refried beans with my secret ingredient: Pork and Beans. A little of this, a little of that, fry it up, blend it up...I can't believe it did it. I made refried beans from pork and beans. (Side note: April S. you were definatily our inspiration for that one!)

Dinner is amazing. I don't know if it tastes incredible because of all we had to go through to get it or because it was just plain good. Either way. We had so much fun! Learned a little more about innovation...a little more about preparedness (pre-think refried beans next time). Had the cooking adventure together (Jenn and I). Wish you could have been here to enjoy our little piece of Texas in Peru!

Baked corn shells

"Refried Beans"

Dinner is ready!

Friday February 22, 2013....Chili
Jenn's Chili. I am extremely particular with her recipe. Slight deviations from the recipe have to be authorized by me in advance. Best. Chili. Ever. Enter in Pace salsa again. Ok, no problem. I have a recipe for that. When it comes to chili, the toppings are just as important as the chili. Enter: sour cream. Again, expensive. Okay no problem. We will use our innovation again. Google. http://www.culturesforhealth.com/sour-cream. Here are the pictures from our adventures. Thanks to our refried beans lesson we learned to prepare, prepare, prepare. The night before we thought ahead and started the sour cream.

Step 1: Make the
buttermilk

Step 2: Mix the cream
& buttermilk

Step 3: Allow the mixture
to rest

Now we let it sit overnight. 12 hours later we come back to it...did it work???? Well, sort of. The temp it rested in wasn't warm enough so we ended up with more of a creme fraiche then sour cream. That's ok. It worked for what we wanted and tasted yummy with the chili.

"Sour Cream"...Sort of.

Front left: Pace Salsa
Back left: "canned" tomatos
Back right: "canned" beans

Now on to chili. Jenn loves to make it back in the states because it is such and easy and delicious meal to make. Open the cans, dump it in and soon you have an amazing meal. Now, the process as become a bit lengthier...a bit more manual. This is when community is shows to be incredible yet again. I love a manual process. Specifically in the kitchen. If I can find a way to make things more difficult I'll probably do that. Since I love a manual process and its not Jenn's favorite we decide to work together. I spend the morning making "canned tomatoes" out of fresh tomatoes, a triple batch of homemade Pace Salsa and cooking the dry beans to make "canned beans". After I'm done Jenn takes over and creates her remarkable meal using my prepped goods. The result, a few tears of joy and a taste of our old home. Complete satisfaction and joy in fact that we just accomplished something yummy together. Probably one of Jenn's best chili's ever, actually.


I'm proud of Jenn. The Lord is teaching her and stretching her alot. He is teaching me & stretching me alot. Its a manual process and sometimes it doesn't feel great, but it's necessary. He has called us out of our comfort zone and into something new. Not for us but for others and for His glory. Its about more then taco's or chili but it starts there. A manual process of life is difficult to learn and adjust to. With an open and willing heart and with the knowledge and joy of being able to conquer this adjustment in life through the Lord's guidance and one another's support we, together, seek His face to learn the lessons He puts in front of us.

Lessons in tacos & chili.

Next attempt? Homemade yogurt.

Final AMAZING product.

What is He teaching you?

I miss, I miss not

Time for me to have a one on "one" moment of honesty with you. I am really enjoying our new home here in Arequipa but it would only be natural for me to miss some things about the States. So here it goes, me in all my honesty and vulnerability to you...I let it all out:

Guarantees of a hot shower in the morning. In Peru people use solar power to heat water in to tanks on their roofs. Since the sun shines 364 out of 365 days a year it makes sense. It is perfectly logical, green, economical and whatever else you want to call it. But if you use up all the hot water in the tank the night before (aka bathing the children) then the next morning you are so out of luck!

Toilet paper in the toilet. Sewage systems here aren't created for that. I'll stop there.

English. I know Spanish. I speak Spanish. I don't write it Spanish. I'll get it. Until then I miss speaking and listening in English.

Contact solution. Its the little things and believe me here it's little. "I miss going to Walmart" (and I use those words SO loosely because I DO NOT miss going to Walmart) to purchase my Equate normal size bottle of contact solution for $2.50. Here it cost $10 for a travel size bottle! Crazy.

The gym. I love to exercise. No, I mean I freakishly LOVE to exercise. I love going to the gym and being motivated. While we are looking at the possibilities of joining a  gym here, its not a reality yet. Until then I faithfully workout to the motivational moves of Insanity, pilate's or a yoga DVD. Foolishly and unashamed we bust a move!  Although our "workout area" is beautiful and comes with a gorgeous view, these "sexy beasts" make a pretty good fool of ourselves in public!

Our pilates/yoga area in the FRONT of the house.

Family & Friends. Of course that is a given. But with technology the way it is with free text message, Skype and Face time it makes it hard to miss to much! It is a wonderful thing to be able to communicate with those I love on a regular basis.

Okay, Okay enough is enough. I'm done. Now you have to know what are some of the things that I love and believe me they far out weigh most of what I miss (except for friends and family).

Eli carrying the collected Avocado

Avocado. Endless supplies of avocado! You don't understand...I am an avocado fanatic. Its in my Puerto Rican blood. I cannot get enough of it. Here we have an avocado tree in our backyard! Unbelievable. I am so blessed.

Ro putting the avocado in the basket

Fresh Peas. When Eli started eating pureed foods I was bent on making as much of his baby food as possible. I loved it. The kitchen is my favorite place to be in the house so its only natural for me to want to make his food as fresh as possible. So began the search for fresh peas. Nearly impossible. When possible to find, nearly impossible to buy. Sad. Here they are everywhere and man are they delicious!!!

Yum...fresh peas!!!

Time with my son. I love that I am at home with him. I love that my job is to be home with him and my future child.

Restoring my roots and being immersed in Spanish. I know I sound like I'm completely contradicting myself but I love that I am learning more about the Spanish language. I love that my son and my husband will understand that part of my life. Its a piece of me and now I'm getting back in the swing of it.

Fresh food. I recently asked mom T., as I was hulling the peas, if they even sold frozen peas here in Peru. She wasn't sure so then next time we snuck out to the grocery store she showed us the frozen food section. Before I go on, close your eyes and picture yourself walking through the frozen food aisle in HEB, Walmart or whatever your favorite grocery store it. Think about the endless possibilities of $.99 pizza's, frozen veggies, corn dogs, french fries...you name it. Now open your eyes and take a peek at the picture below. THAT is the frozen food section. SOLD. I officially love it here. Want a canned product. HA. Good luck. Unless you want to pay $4 for canned corn you better head straight on over the the produce section. Love it.

Amazing new types of fresh fruit

This is the extent of the frozen food section!

Community. I love living in community. I love meeting new people and expanding our community. I love discovering a new culture. Its incredible. So much more awaits!

My list could go on. I miss some but I have SO MUCH MORE to be grateful for. So much more to fall in love with. What a great time in our life to be exploring the world in this adventure with Christ.

Sunday Peops...this is for you!

Sunday pe-ops...this one is for you. You know who you are and we love you and miss you!

Sundays are the best.  For the last year or two we have spent Sundays the way I believe they were intended to be, relaxing and enjoying the company of others. We spent almost every Sunday with friends, family and anyone that wanted to join us in hanging out and eating. We would go to church, come home (Tovar's house), make lunch and hang out. Lunch would be the big event. We loved pulling out all the stops, whether it was fresh made pasta or ravioli we really made an effort to make this the best meal we would have all week. We loved sharing a table with so many people.

Sunday's are one of the things I miss most about being in the states. I love that Sunday lunch fun continues on without us...whether it's building a chicken coup or just hanging out, we miss not being a part of it but are grateful to have our Face time with everyone each week and are so happy to know it continues on.

Since we have been here in Arequipa, ya know...all two weeks, we have been blessed to have our own big Sunday dinners here. Last week we all spent time together celebrating Eli's birthday while grilling out and enjoying time with the neighbor. What an incredible women she is and we truly believe the Lord has brought her into our lives for a reason. This week we spent lunch and the afternoon with 17 family members and the neighbor joined us again...what a blast and the meal was AMAZING!!!! We had a traditional Arequipa meal which included Chicarone, Rocoto relleno (stuff spicy pepper), potatoes with cheese and so on. Seriously, unbelievable. I had such a great time getting to know family here and hanging out.

Traditional meal. Unbelievable.

Isn't that what its all about?!?!?! Enjoying life together! Sharing a table. These past two Sundays have been proof to me that the Lord knows what we need. Always. Sunday lunch wasn't even on my "list" of things that I was talking to the Lord about, but it would have been a void I would have realized far to late.

If you haven't tried it yet, I challenge you to try sharing a meal with friends and family at least once a week. Your life will change. Your view on community will change. Your realization of how much we need one another for discipleship, accountability and growth will expand. You will become a different person.

12 disciples. One table. The Lord set the example.

We busted out of the house...three times!!!

Proof that we escaped!

Two days in a row! Can you believe that we broke out of the house three times in two days? It's different here without a car. You don't have the same kind of independence like you do in the states. You don't just come and go as you please. Most of that is conditional to our situation, with no car and no desire to learn how to fight traffic. Really I think its a total set up! I have been set up and I'm OK with it! I think the Lord has set me up. I knew before leaving what one of my biggest struggles would be and now I'm facing it head on. The struggle to lose my independence in world where the Lord is calling us to communal and missional living. You want a confession fine here it is: the truth is yes I miss my Target runs by myself and doing whatever I want, whenever I want BUT this life is better. On Wednesday afternoon after a time of family prayer we sat around discussing what day care to put our children into (they need to be submersed in this culture as much as we do) and how we will divide the chores, pre-determined date nights and shared household duties. It was then I realized more then ever before, why do I want to do my own laundry, dishes or cooking? Why do I want to have meals by myself? This life is awesome. Yes, it comes with its own set up difficulties but when the Lord calls He will direct and bring peace. He shared his life with 12 disciples and I am so excited to find out who the Lord is bringing into our lives here in Peru! I can't wait to meet them and share meals with them. Maybe I'll even let them do my laundry!!!

Mom T. & Jenn picking out produce

So back to my story...we broke out of the house two days in a row. So thrilling. Yesterday we went to the grocery store. My second grocery store trip since we arrived in Peru. It is completely overwhelming! With 15 varieties of potatoes to chose from and 25 different fruits I have never even heard of I don't even know where to start. I love coupons and a good deal and unfortunately there is no Extreme couponing here in Peru. Stink! Where will I find toothpaste for $.25??? I have to find a new way to shop in stores I am not familiar with. Grocery shopping was so much fun to me in the states and right now it simply overwhelms me...having to figure out a new type of cuisine as well as fit in our own style into a world that isn't the same (stay tuned for future blogs on cuisine). Have no fear though...it will be fun again. I...ahem, I mean, WE will figure it out!

Eli checking out all the potatoes!

Checking out!

And then we busted out again! Last night after we tucked those sweet little boys into bed and had a great "Facetime" session with Misty and Sean, the four of us busted out of the house again! We left the kiddos tucked away and escaped into a couple of hours of adult sanity time! On our quest to find the best pisco sours in the city and the Peruvian Paloma Blanca (our old hang out and happy hour spot) we set out to a near by restaurant. While the place was just so so and the pisco sour was not that great we overlooked the mediocrity of the environment and enjoyed our first couple hours of adult peace and relaxation. Beautiful. It was beautiful.

Hanging out with Dad T. @ Cafe El Ekeko

Walking to get chocolate

Today after a full day of cooking, for me, laundry, for the guys, and playing, for the boys we decided after lunch to get out again! Wahhooo, We are busting out again!!! I think I'm beginning to feel human! Mom T. stayed home and the rest of us ventured down to Dad T's office in downtown Arequipa. We talked dad T. into walking around the square with us as we searched for decaffeinated coffee, which is apparently a difficult request for this pregnant chickie since no one sells it and then continued to search for the best Pisco Sour. We landed ourselves at Cafe El Ekeko, a place we have been to before and enjoyed hanging out with dad. Afterwards we grabbed some chocolate at the amazing La Iberica, which by the way if your not going to come to visit us you need to come for a visit with the chocolate...so worth it! Way more fun and tastier then us!  As we began our walk back to our car and head home we walked thru the plaza. As Virgil and I walked together he reminded me of where I began when I started to write today. Community. Those conquering Spaniards had the right idea. They knew what they were doing. Hang with me for a moment, I'm going somewhere. In Puerto Rico (where I am from) they have small squares in every little city. Small squares called Plaza's where are the "top" of the square sits the Catholic church. The plaza is where everyone went. They went to shop, spend time together, worshipped the Lord together. It was and still is, community. It was always my favorite place to go when we went to PR to visit. Something about it just drew me there. I loved being in the plaza. Maybe its because they had the BEST coconut ice cream in the plaza...but probably not. The Spaniards conquered Peru as well and the cities here have the same set up.  Since I have gotten to Peru I have longed to go to the Plaza. It draws me. Virgil mentioned the same feeling. Walking thru the plaza solidified that feeling. That we were now home. That the Spaniards knew what they were doing and were setting up an example for years to come. A vision of community. A vision of sharing our lives. A vision of sharing and worshipping the Lord as one.

A corner of the plaza

Opposite side of the plaza

V & Jenn in front of the church

We busted out! The city may not be the same letting these two crazy's (Jenn and I out) multiple time in two days, but they better get use to it! We are here to stay. To conquer the grocery shopping! To have great chocolate and most importantly to share the Lord. To meet and share a life with others. One that's not about us but about Him.

It rarely rains in Arequipa

Sunday was an adventure in Arequipa.

Lets being with the rules of the road here in Peru (birds chirping silence)...there are none. Nope not really. Its courteous to obey the lights but other then that is every man for himself. Knowing those "rules" and knowing kids don't use cars seats here we set off for church at mom and dad Tovar's church. We contemplated all hoping in a car together and going to church together but instead of keeping with our standard circus clown antics and clowning all 7 of us in one car we took the sensible route and took two cars. Dad Tovar drove one car with Ronan, Virgil and Jenn while John drove the other car with Eli and myself (mom went to church early). Not smart. We should have taken one car. As John and I drove behind Dad T. sitting in typical Peruvian traffic (imagine NYC on an easy day) the car begins to stall out. Up the hill we are sitting and the car won't start! Horns are honking (not unusual) and John tries to start the car! Success it starts....and 5 seconds later it dies....so goes on the same story for the next 5 minutes until we can inch our way to a parking space on the opposite side of the road. With no Peruvian Soles (currency), only US dollars and no cell phones to call anyone we come up with a plan. To my surprise I'm not nervous, frustrated or as high strung as usual...in fact I'm a little bit excited that we have encountered our first adventure. Thank goodness I'm with a Peruvian who "knows" what to do! So proceeds the plan. We hop out of the car and walk a few blocks to exchange some money, find a taxi, negotiate with the taxi on a fare, get in the taxi, drive to church on one way (going the wrong way) road and get to church now 45 minutes late. Whew! We made it. John and Dad T. took the cab back the car where we left it and amazingly enough the car starts. What? Its true. Its like it never happened. So they took the car home, just in case, and took a cab back to church where after church we clowned all, now, 8 of us in one car and drove home. As much as we try to not be a part of the circus, we just can't get away. The circus is in our blood. It is who we are and we are here to stay!

Home from church.

Children sleep.

Children wake up to enjoy celebrating Eli's 2nd birthday today with their favorite food: hot dogs and cake!

Light misting rain starts

Skyped with family and friends.

Ah, time to rest.

Jenn in the rainy room

Eli barricaded from the rain

The guys assessing the situation

What a great Sunday. We all gather into one room start a movie and relax. About 20 minutes into the movie I go downstairs to get Eli more "coffee" per his request. As I am having a moment to myself I begin to contemplate inwardly "This feels great. A good Sunday not so different from when we were home in New Braunfels. Lunch with new friends and family and relaxing. Now all of us watching a movie and enjoying some down time". Hahahahahahaha! Fool! I wasn't downstairs 3 minutes and I come back upstairs to a relaxing room turned to mad chaos...Its raining in the house...no it pouring in the house! All the furniture being rearranged, every last towel being used to wipe up the floors, wires being picked up and now we are attempting to barricade the children to keep them dry and out of a rain mess! So much for a relaxing evening! After an hour of mopping, cleaning and drying up we did finally get back to relaxing. Oh what a night. Its summer here and yes its the rainy season but that means nothing more then daily late afternoon clouds and a light gentle sprinkle. It rarely REALLY rains Arequipa. When it does, it doesn't rain that hard.

Me trying to dry off Eli bed that got wet in the rain

Saving our pants with our high waters

High waters and socks???? He has intelligent parents :)

Ro and his rain high waters (note him playing with the blasted light switch!)

It was all good fun when it was all said and done, but for many its not fun and games. Many Peruvians here in Arequipa are suffering because of all this rain. Pray for the people in the lower parts of Arequipa. Because it has been raining so hard, there is a lot of flooding. People are losing their homes and loved ones. Please join with us in praying for them.

Would you like a piece of cheese?

There is one things I know in this world of "what the heck is going on"...One lesson I've learned in my few days here...Lesson #1: parenting is the same no matter where you live.

"Would you like a piece of cheese?"

No cheese please!

In Jenn and Johns quest for Ronan to eat adult food they encountered the Great Cheese War of 2013...would you like a piece of cheese? Ronan loves cheese, I mean LOVES. If there is anything in this world he will eat it's crackers (aka crack as Ro calls it), eggs, hot dogs and cheese. Only real problem with his love for cheese it that it is a love for the fabulous "American" delicacy: string cheese. So what's the problem, huh? Peruvians don't eat string cheese duh! There are about a gazillion better cheeses in this world, why would they eat string cheese? So starts they Great Cheese War. One bit Ro, that is all you have to take and then you can eat ANYTHING you want. You want a smoothie? Sure no problem, just eat one bite of cheese. You want chocolate cake? Sure no problem, just eat ONE bite of cheese. You want anything delicious and filled with a pound of sugar? Sure no problem. JUST EAT ON BITE OF CHEESE! Put it in your mouth, chew it and swallow and then the world is yours. Just do it. I know you will like it if you just taste it. I know your food world will be changed and your will never want to go back to the baby food again. I'm not trying to trick you, trust me. "Would you like a piece of cheese? pre-lunch battle comes and goes...no bite. "Would you like a piece of cheese" lunch battle comes and goes...not bite. "Would you like a piece of cheese" post lunch battle comes and goes...no bite! Now it's nap time. Time for the soldiers of cheese war to rest up, prepare their minds, strategies and gear up for face to face battle again. Now that the soldiers are all rested up, Jenn and John have come up with a great strategy. No more cheese battle today...they will resume war tomorrow, but nothing for Ro until dinner time. He will have to wait. Learn his lesson and try again tomorrow. Stop judging them they aren't starving him. He has plenty to survive on off of himself and he will get something. Commence strategy...healthy fruit smoothie with Quinoa and milk. Great plan. Great pan until John gets hungry and goes for a snack while we all as a family watch our movie....what does he come back with? Crackers. Seriously....he brought back crackers. Genius. Now the strategy has failed and the battle for today is truly over. Parenting fail. Parents-0, Ronan-1.


Lesson #2 stems directly from the great cheese war...We are a stubborn people. How many times does the Lord speak to us the exact same thing. Yahaira if you just take ONE bite of my Word...just taste my truth...I know you will enjoy it. I know your life will be changed and you will never want to go back to your old nasty food, your old ways! I'm not trying to trick you, trust me.

Eli drinking his "toffee"

In my own quest for peace in this world of transition and children (2 toddlers, Ronan and Eli, and a growing baby inside) all I want is a cup of coffee. Sitting down on a couch, enjoy the view, read the bible and drink coffee out of my beautiful Tiffany's coffee cup. Only problem for me is that since I've been pregnant decaffeinated coffee has been my beverage of choice. Any child would probably agree that anything that comes out of a cup that mom has most be delicious. So, of course, Eli wants to taste it...so started the worst parenting decision I have ever made. Parenting fail. Parent-0, Eli-1. Rewind several months ago: peeeaaassee momma. Peeaassseee taste. Peeeaasssseee toffee (aka coffee). Sure son, its decaffeinated you can taste it. What kind of sucker am I? Fast forward to today, about 2 months of Eli tasting coffee and me wanting to sit on the couch and enjoy a few moments of rest: With my beloved Tiffany's cup filled coffee in hand, I enter the room with the children happily playing, I sit down, snuggle into the couch, open the Bible and take my first sip of peace. Peace that only lasted 30 seconds before that sweet innocent, lovely, begging little voice comes running up to me...TOFFEE!!!!!! When did you get so stinking smart child??? How do you know that mommy only drinks coffee from THAT cup? Peeeaaasseee momma, ppeaase "toffee." Yes child whatever you want, yes please drink. Fast forward 1 minute and the "toffee" is gone. MMMMOOOMMMM. Ppppeeeassee more!!!! What do I do, what do I do???? Ah of course fill him up with sugary goodness, call it coffee and he will never know the difference. Enter our first sip of chocolate milk which shall from now on be known as coffee. Yes...Chocolate milk as coffee for the toddler...why didn't I have this stroke of genius before? You lied to your son? I know you are judging me right now...thats OK...I told him that its chocolate milk but he and I prefer to call it coffee for now. Its more fun.

Lesson #3? Yeah I haven't figured it out yet. Or maybe I have but I just don't want to admit it....The Lord knows what is best for us in the right timing. We so often want what we think is great and best for us. We want what we aren't quite ready for. But more then parents know what is best for their children, the Lord knows what is best for His children and in due time, if He thinks it's best, He will provide. Until then enjoy what the Lord does give.

Lesson #4 has no spiritual meaning to it although if I search hard enough I'm sure I could just come up with one. The last thing I've learned is simple common sense. Never build a home with light switches and door bells 3 feet off the ground. Seriously, thats like a child's playground and parental yelling match. Don't touch the switch! Its midnight son you can't ring the doorbell!

Ronan and the light switch

All you can do at the end of the day is laugh. Trust in the Lord and take it in stride. Yup, its true nothing magical happened to our children when we moved to Peru. Our children didn't become different people when we crossed the Equator. They are still our wonderful, beautifully made children and we wouldn't trade them for the world. Maybe you who have been or are currently parents of small children don't understand because your kids are perfect, but my guess is most of you get it. As for me, I'm grateful my children are exactly who they are and that they teach me amazing lessons every day. I am grateful the Lord uses them to speak to me. I am grateful everyday for these small human beings. I love them so much.

Parenting is the same here (based on experience and observations of true Peruvians) as it is over in the States.

That is comforting.

That is a little piece of home.

That is the Lord speaking to us.

The Circus has Arrived and in Motion!

The "American" circus has arrived! We made it in to Arequipa, along with ALL our luggage! I still can't believe it!  They let US in the country....what were they thinking???? We are so amazed and blessed to have gotten here with all our luggage and MOST of our sanity intact!

View from front of house. To many clouds
to see la montana (the mountain) "Misty"

Its rainy season here in Arequipa. Summer is in full swing. The weather is amazing here...sunny in the morning and by lunch time the clouds roll in and the gentle cool rain sprinkles down. The view from our new home (the home of Johns parents) is amazing. You can see the city and the main mountains that surround the city. "Misty" the only active volcano is covered with snow on the top.

Family business meeting

We have accomplished "quite a bit" but it feels like we are moving in slow motion...Peruvian motion...our new motion! Its not so bad actually! John has been to the immigration office a couple of times to work on all of residential status', we are moving into our rooms and figuring out where everything goes and there is construction going on in the boys room so they will have more space to play! Our list of settling in things to do is still long but will eventually get done. Jenn and Virgil are going to be looking for spanish classes along with being self taught at home and the business meetings for work have already commenced. Virgil and John will make their first trip to Lima to scope out a couple of offices and talk to a dentist for the new offices.

Today we had some time to pray together as a family. It was such a blessing to be able to stop and talk to the Lord together!  We are seeking the Lord for direction and guidance. We desire to live outside of the mold of religion and church and live solely for Him how He is asking us to live...but knowing what that means takes time, seeking His face and listening. Certainly this is not just something we should be thinking about just because we have moved to Peru but this is something the Lord put on our hearts over a year ago. How is He asking you to live differently for Him? How is He challenging you? We would love to hear from you. This isn't just about us, it's about how the Lord is using everyone for His glory!

Eli during prayer time

Eli and Jenn during prayer time

Our prayer time together

Jenn and I our working through our new roles here. Its weird for us to not have our jobs, businesses and personal responsibilities outside of our children and homes. We were able to get out yesterday and go to the grocery store and the Peruvian version of the "Home Depot". We are enjoying our families and feel so blessed and privileged that we have this opportunity.

Jenn and the boys!

Jenn and Eli doing "work" together

Be in prayer for us as we seek the Lord as to how we get involved in our communities, decide what school to put our kids in and work through the decisions of business.